Prevalence of responsible research practices and their potential explanatory factors: a survey among academic researchers in The Netherlands

BackgroundWhile substantial attention has been paid to research misbehaviors, responsible research practices (RRPs) and their potential explanatory factors have not been studied extensively.Methods The National Survey on Research Integrity (NSRI) is an online survey targeting all disciplines and academic ranks in The Netherlands. Data was collected on 11 RRPs and 12 explanatory factor scales. Results were controlled for explanatory factor scales, academic rank, disciplinary field, gender, doing empirical research and if respondents belonged to a NSRI supporting institution or not.Results6,813 respondents completed the survey. The RRPs with the highest prevalence were avoiding plagiarism (99%), disclosing conflicts of interest (96.5%) and checking for errors before publication (94.3%). Preregistration of study protocols (42.8%), making accessible underlying data and syntaxes (47.2%), and keeping comprehensive research records (56.3%) had the lowest prevalence. Arts and humanities scholars, PhD candidates and junior researchers were associated with a lower RRP mean (-0.51 and -0.31 respectively) as was publication pressure (-0.05; 95% CI -0.08, -0.02). Mentoring (0.15; 95% CI 0.12, 0.17), scientific norm subscription (0.13; 95% CI 0.1, 0.15) and funding pressure (0.13; 95% CI0.10, 0.17) were significantly associated with a higher RRP mean.ConclusionsWe found publication pressure to affect RRPs negatively. Mentoring, scientific norm subscription and funding pressure may help foster RRPs. Arts and humanities scholars, PhD candidates and junior researchers need more efforts to raise awareness on RRPs. Further research on these groups is warranted in order to understand research integrity challenges that may be unique to them.

Strains in Offshore US Dollar Funding during the COVID-19 Crisis

This note analyzes recent trends in offshore US dollar funding markets and explores the drivers of dollar funding costs during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Preliminary evidence suggests that only part of the sharp increase in observed dollar funding costs can be attributed to the standard supply- and demand-side factors analyzed in the October 2019 Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR), including the dollar funding fragility of non-US global banks. Changes in market structure since the global financial crisis, as well as heightened uncertainty and tensions in the commercial paper market, may provide further explanations for the movements in dollar funding costs in late March 2020. The US Federal Reserve’s swap line arrangements have helped lessen strains in dollar funding markets, but funding pressure remains significant for some emerging market economies, notably those with-out access to the swap lines. Furthermore, tighter dollar funding conditions appear to have accompanied increases in financial stress in the home economies of affected non-US global banks and to have generated adverse spill-over effects in the form of cutbacks in cross-border lending.

Direct Comparison of Label-Free Biosensor Binding Kinetics Obtained on the Biacore 8K and the Carterra LSA

Funding pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to deliver new medicines to the market under aggressive timelines has led to a demand for analytical tools with higher detection sensitivity, increased throughput, and automation to speed up research and discovery efforts and converge upon clinically fit leads faster. In the quest for therapeutic antibodies, the early adoption of interaction analysis platforms utilizing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) detection provides insightful molecular-level information about the binding properties of antibody libraries that are key to understanding an antibody’s mechanism of action and can guide the library-to-leads triage. Here, we sought to compare the binding kinetics obtained on two state-of-the-art high-throughput SPR platforms in an independent study conducted by unrelated groups located on different continents. We show that when experiments were performed by skilled users adhering to SPR best practices and allowed freedom in their assay design, the two platforms yielded near-identical results, establishing them both as reliable tools in accelerating the characterization of antibody libraries in providing critical information needed to advance leads to the clinic.

Cost-reduction strategies in massive genomics experiments

Many modern biology studies require deep, whole-genome sequencing of hundreds to thousands of samples. Although per-sample costs have dramatically decreased, the total budget for such massive genome sequencing constitutes a significant barrier for poorly funded labs. The costly lab tools required for genomics experiments further hinder such studies. Here, we share two strategies for extensively reducing the costs of massive genomics experiments, including miniaturization of the NEBNext Ultra II FS DNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina (reducing the per-sample total costs to ~ 1/6 of that charged by service providers) and in-lab 3D model-designing of genomics tools. These strategies not only dramatically release funding pressure for labs, but also provide students with additional training in hands-on genomics and 3D-model-designing skills, demonstrating the high potential for their application in genomics experiments and science education.

Global Overview of the Role of NGOs in Natural Hazard Governance

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play important roles in that they: strengthen natural hazard governance through service delivery and humanitarian response; mobilize local actors and work for advocacy, knowledge access, and integration; promote disaster risk reduction (DRR), development, and climate change adaptation (CCA) perspectives; and facilitate calls for transformative approaches. Some roles are best undertaken by large international and national NGOs (INGOs and NNGOs) and some are the province of smaller local NGOs (LNGOs). The sector as a whole plays a vital role by both challenging actors and bridge-building among them, as well as by modeling innovative practice, highlighting changing risk drivers, and engaging in policy advocacy. However, the growth of the sector has brought about challenges. The potential of NGOs is reduced by the constraints attached to much institutional funding, pressure for upward rather than downward accountability, and limited engagement by large INGOs and NNGOs with LNGOs and local people. Initiatives such as the Grand Bargain, emerging from the World Humanitarian Summit, seek to refashion and rebalance the sector. If NGOs, particularly the larger and more established organizations, prove able to address such challenges then the ability of the whole sector to support transformative change will be strengthened.

How does the pharmaceutical industry influence prescription? A qualitative study of provider payment incentives and drug remunerations in hospitals in Shanghai

Over-prescription has become one major problem in China’s health care sector. Incorporating interview data from hospitals in Shanghai, this paper provided empirical evidence on how the process of over-prescription was carried out in day-to-day clinical settings, and demonstrates various mechanisms that allow over-prescription to continue vigorously in the context of the Chinese health care system. In particular, this study identified four levels of incentives that over-prescription was carried out: hospital, medical department, doctors and pharmaceutical companies. Due to the insufficient funding from the government and rising operational costs, hospitals had to rely on the sales of drugs and provision of medical services to survive. This funding pressure then transferred to specific revenue targets for medical departments. A combination of incentives, including drug remunerations, bonus system, low pay and high workloads motivated over-prescription at doctor level. At pharmaceutical company level, high profits of pharmaceuticals products as well as lack of emphasis on efficacy of drugs led to under-table payments and illicit drug remunerations. The study argued that the way that the Chinese health care system operates was based on the profit-seeking principle rather than on fulfilling its social functions, and called for a systematic reform of provider incentives to eradicating the problem of over-prescription.

From the Airfield to the High Street: The Met Office’s Role in the Emergence of Commercial Weather Services

This paper explores the role of the United Kingdom’s National Meteorological Service, the Met Office (MO), in the early development (1945–65) of applied, and subsequently commercial, weather and climatological services in the United Kingdom. Through examination of archival records it shows how theoretical and technological developments led to the postwar expansion of services for the general public and new user groups, resulting in funding pressure on the organization and the proactive seeking of nongovernment funding sources. The paper then explores the influence of these early developments on the subsequent large-scale expansion of applied and commercial services at the MO, which were to be enshrined in the organization’s mandate when it became an executive agency under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s efficiency review in 1990. It is shown that the history of the Met Office’s role in applied weather services is important for understanding the organization’s position today as a civil agency that acts commercially, the broader process of “agentification” of the scientific civil service, and the United Kingdom’s prominence internationally in the private weather services market. By considering developments in the context of other National Meteorological Services and the international forum provided by the World Meteorological Organization, the development of weather services at the Met Office is shown to have been influenced by international best practice while remaining distinct in its approach to delivering a broad range of both public and commercial services.